THE WINTER OF DISCONTENT. 117 



Wages in Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Somersetshire, and 

 Herefordshire averaged from us. to I2S. a week, with in 

 some cases a cottage free. There were special instances of 

 the men in Herefordshire getting i6s. to 173. In Somerset- 

 shire, in certain districts, wages were as low as 95. a week, 

 and in one district as high as i6s. a week. In Berkshire, 

 at the village of Upton, the wage was only 8s. a week, while 

 at Wokingham the maximum was i6s. a week. In East 

 Berks wages varied from 95. to us. and from i2s. to 145. 

 a week. Although the labourer's ordinary wages in Wilt- 

 shire were los. a week, we learn 1 that head shepherds re- 

 ceived I2S. a week, and provided they reared, on the average, 

 90 lambs every year from each 100 ewes, they received 

 405. per annum extra. This entailed a good deal of over- 

 time. Under-shepherds had us. a week, and smaller 

 bonuses. Forty-two branches of the Wiltshire Agricultural 

 and General Labourers' Union with a membership of 1,400 

 were formed in 1892 and 1893. 



In Wilts a very objectionable form of agreement between 

 master and servant was in vogue (vide Church Reformer, 

 July, 1893). A question was asked in the House of Parlia- 

 ment with regard to this agreement and the illegality of the 

 fines and deductions. The Home Secretary's reply was to 

 the effect that the fines were not illegal, but the deductions 

 were. 



Men in charge of horses and cattle were usually paid 

 is. a week over and above daymen's wages, with sometimes 

 a free cottage, but their hours of work were much longer, 

 and included Sunday attendance on the stock. Harvest 

 pay varied greatly. 2 



Women who worked in the fields were paid, for somewhat 

 shorter hours than the men, from 8d. or gd. to is. 2d. a 

 day. 



Some labourers' budgets were collected in the counties 

 mentioned above which show that a labourer with five 

 children spent los. ii|d. wages, us. ; in Herts, with two 



1 Church Reformer, June, 1893. 



~ Mr. W. C. Little, one of the Commissioners, stated that horsemen and 

 cowmen worked 12 hours a day in summer and nf hours in winter. 



